A New Beginning

Volume 4

“After weeks of idle discussion we finally took on an honest bounty. Trandoshans are ideal prey because they are unlikely to provoke inconvenient feelings of sympathy due to their inherent monstrousness. Unfortunately our trip was delayed due to a miscalculation on Frank’s part. Money was made, I suppose, though I prefer my payday at the bottom of a wanted poster.

We dropped out of hyperspace over some backwater mine with the audacity to call itself a planet. A freighter hailed us and informed us that their miners were trapped underground, with respirator’s failing. Normally I don’t condone charity. The prospect of raiding a wealthy mine did eventually assuage my conscience. It turns out the ‘miners’ were merely debt slaves. I don’t believe in slavery as a practice. If you can’t govern someone, give them a weapon and let them fight.

Thankfully the moral crisis resolved itself when the slavers in question cleverly tried to murder us rather then negotiate. We are far better murderers than we are negotiators, however, so they hedged the wrong bet. A hold full of copper later and we were back after our mark.

Norval is a hole, a frontier shanty town with delusions of rougish grandeur. We found our Trandoshan in lockup in the custody of local ‘law enforcement.’ Cassus also found another wayward clone, this one wanted for Imperial Treachery. I certainly wouldn’t fault a man for killing an officer. It seems he [Cassus] retains more than a measure of loyalty. That sounds like something I’ll have to confront some day.

While returning the Imperial criminal to Kashyyyk, I had a moment to examine the trinket Z’ found somewhere. A red ring of mysterious origins. When she or I wear it, it glows with some strange symbol. A spear and a shield, obviously the insignia of a martial organization. No doubt one that saw itself as an order of warrior-protectors. It works for no one else. I cannot imagine what me and a displaced urchin have in common, aside from a certain degree of charm.

As a final note I’ve begun to experience strange sensations. Particularly when I entertain thoughts of father. During a particularly vicious and cathartic nightmare I woke to find myself floating just above my bunk. The fall bruised my lower back and one middle toe. I’ve not expressed this to anyone, as it sounds insane. And I fear Cassus might kill me."